Painting I

Painting I provides a strong fundamental grasp of all aspects of the painting process, with instruction in opaque, glazing, and impasto techniques in both oil and acrylic, along with the basics of encaustic painting. We examine the historical context for all styles of painting, and expose the student to contemporary influences. Our goal is to prepare students for any type of upper-level work they might come to envision, and to place them in a position to succeed, whatever their career goals may be.

The course builds upon the skills obtained in the Art Foundations Sequence. We begin with standard approaches to the painting process in a medium, acrylics, with which most students are familiar. We then explore the techniques of the Old Masters, followed by the expressive impasto approaches introduced in the early modern period. We then examine how style and content are related in an assignment that explores the work of historically important artists. The final assignment asks the student to make their own artistic statement in preparation for upper-level painting investigations.